Drug Task Force charges Somersworth man in heroin bust

DOVER — A Somersworth man has been indicted on charges of selling heroin to an undercover police officer earlier this year.

Matthew Sauvageau, a 33-year-old self-employed carpenter, allegedly sold two quantities of heroin to a member of the attorney general's Drug Task Force on separate days in March. The undercover officer allegedly paid Sauvageau $200 each time, making the exchanges in Somersworth, according to court documents.

Police allegedly recovered more than 100 grams of heroin after arresting Sauvageau and another man and executing search warrants at their residence at 3 Ringer Drive in Somersworth in September. The search also turned up $50,000 in cash and several firearms, according to police.

Sauvageau was indicted by a Strafford County grand jury this month on two special felony charges of selling a controlled drug. Both carry a recommended maximum prison sentence of between 3½ years and 7 years, and a maximum fine of $100,000.

Sauvageau was also indicted Nov. 15 on a charge of possessing more than 5 grams of heroin with the intention of selling it. The charge is also a special felony. It could yield a maximum prison sentence of up to 30 years, and a maximum fine of $500,000, if Sauvageau is found guilty.

An indictment is not an indication of guilt. Rather, it signifies that a jury found sufficient evidence to warrant a trial.

At his video arraignment in Dover District Court earlier this year, Sauvageau was ordered held on $10,000 cash bail. He waived his right to a subsequent probable cause hearing, according to court documents.

His attorney, John A.M. Hinsman III, has requested for the drug lab analyst who performed chemical testing in the case to be available in court for questioning. Through his attorney, Sauvageau is contesting the “composition, quality or quantity of the substance submitted to the laboratory for analysis.”